


Dungeons and Dragons In A Can

by thedrowned (caelondian)



Category: Stargate Universe
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-06 01:44:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11590422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caelondian/pseuds/thedrowned
Summary: Lt. Scott and Eli play D&D. It's sorta after the finding of that one planet, though it touches on some still-present tenseness.





	Dungeons and Dragons In A Can

Chloe follows Matthew around for a while because she knows what's coming.

She calls it "boy's night", and even though they're all adults, she'll always call them "boys" as long as they play table-top RPGs. Still, after what happened when Camile tried to take over the ship, well...she knew this would further help to mend any old wounds between she and Eli and the military and the scientists.

"You going to be okay?" Chloe asks.

Matthew shrugs.

"It's Eli. What harm can he do?"

"Oh, I don't know," she replies, taking his hand, "Might _bore_ you to death."

Matthew just chuckles, and bends his neck to give her a kiss before she walks off, waving. He's unsure of what to expect when he comes in the door; he'd been jealous as a little kid of all those other boys who would run around the schoolyard, yelling out their magical spells and a stopping for a quick second to roll a tiny die...

Matthew shakes his head, and knocks firmly on Eli's door. There is shuffling inside, then the heavy door slides open with a swish and Eli's young, grin-laden face appears.

"Welcome to my dungeon keep," he quirkily says.

He walks in and gestures toward his chamber which has been transformed. The bedsheets and draperies from other quarters have been attached here and there and several low-lit lanterns sit in many places. When Matthew's eyebrow raises at them, Eli quickly explains.

"I'll get them back on the chargers, I promise."

Matthew continues to slowly walk in, eyeing all the tiny wood trinkets that Camile carved, dangling from some sinewy strings from the ceiling of Eli's quarters. Finally, he stops short of his low table, covered in carved-up bedsheets, dyed in the purple extract that Volker managed to procure from the alien "sweet" potatoes. There are many chairs silently waiting to be filled.

"Where are the others?" Matthew asks, suddenly feeling trapped.

Eli shuts the door to his chamber and turns around to see Matthew's somewhat worried face.

"Oh, pft, they'll be here, don't worry. They're coming in a little bit."

The big smile Eli manages to plaster to his face isn't all too reassuring to Matthew, but he sits in one of the empty seats while Eli grabs a thick bunch of papers from under a rock paperweight.

"How'd you make that paper, Eli?" Matthew asks.

"I used a mesh Brody made for the distillery, and some pulp from some of the plants we've grown—"

"Does Brody know?"

Eli's face becomes guilty quickly.

"I told him I accidentally broke it," he laughs, "Hey, he stole it from _Destiny_!"

Matthew just shakes his head, and says, "Okay, so, what's first?"

"First, we make you a character!" Eli proclaims triumphantly.

"A character?"

"Yeah, that's how you play Dungeons and Dragons. You play as a character in their world. It's not really you, it's them. I mean, it's kind of you, but...well, you get the idea."

Finding it surprising, but somehow pleasing, Matthew concedes, "Okay, so how do we do it?"

Eli then pulls out a small, dark-coloured shape from his pocket.

"Ta-da!" But when Matthew's blank stare returns him, he says, "It's a D20!"

"It's a die...?"

"Yeah, totally carved it from some wood. Look at my _excellent_ dodecahedral carving skills."

Matthew chuckles and shakes his head, looking around the room at all that he's done to liven up the cold bird, _Destiny_. How clever the kid was, how underrated...

"So, I was thinking you'd be pretty good as a paladin—"

"That's a warrior?"

"Heh, no, a warrior's a little bit tougher. Paladin's got some serious strength, but he can help his buddies out and cure them. Cool, huh?"

"It's a human, right...?"

"Yeah, definitely. Thought I'd give you a human so I didn't have to scare you off. So, now we pick which deity you believe in."

"Deity? You mean like God?"

"Well, _a_ god."

"It can't be God?"

Eli just stares at Matthew for a second.

"Okay, Torm it is."

He marks something on his hand-made paper with a pencil he's never seen. Another one of Eli's crafty handiworks?

"...And we'll just make your character lawful good..."

Matthew thinks, Is this why Rush was so bitter and rotten towards Eli? Because Eli could make anything from anything else, and solve even simple problems they seemed to be used to, like pencils and paper and fun?

"...I guess charisma wasn't too high. That's okay, as DM, I'll give you a boost in something else..."

Suddenly, Matthew's perspective of Rush changed a little. This bitter old man was so jealous of Eli that Eli became the less-than-great person aboard the ship, when really, it was Eli who was greater than great. Matthew already thought that of Eli...but now he couldn't help but think it even moreso because the one guy who could possibly have more of a reason to get on with Eli was too busy degrading him.

"...Matt?"

"Huh?"

"You like those spells I just read off?"

"Uh, yeah yeah, sounds good! So. What happens now?"

Eli promptly hands Matthew the scrap of homemade paper, which surprises Matthew a little. The scratches of numbers and words don't mean much, but Eli's handwriting is surprisingly neat.

"Well, uh, the guys totally said we could start without them, so we'll just enter the dungeon right now. It'll be great, trust me. And one day I guess I'll write down everything I can remember from the Dungeon Master's Guide. It'll be huge, anyone could play if they wanted... Anyway, we'll start you off easy. Ready?"

Matthew was not. But he tried to go forward anyway. He had the sinking feeling Brody, Volker, and Becker had lied to Eli...so he couldn't back down. For Eli's sake.

Eli begins to describe the cave Matthew's character is supposedly going through and explains he's come to a mysterious crate. When Matthew tries everything to open it, Eli reminds him that he has the choice of dealing with something or not. Matthew asks why, and Eli says because it makes it more realistic.

Minutes pass, then hours. By the end of the dungeon, Eli has scrawled all over Matthew's character page, his character has gone up two levels, and he's gotten enough treasure to fill two other peoples' pockets. The others never showed up, but Matthew doesn't care, and Eli doesn't seem to mind much, either. When Matthew begins to leave, Eli tells him to wait.

"Here, keep your character sheet. Give him a name or something!" and hands the sheet back to Matthew, fully covered in Eli's neat scribbles.

"Aren't you the 'Dungeon Master'?" Matthew asks, jokingly.

"It's kind of like a tradition, I guess," Eli tells him, leaning on his open chamber door, "The player takes home himself, basically."

Matthew nods solemnly, peeking down at his "self", nameless and strong.

"Coming next week? I've got a better quest lined up."

"Will the others come next time?" Matthew asks, giving Eli a half-smile in pity.

Eli shrugs and replies, "Probably not."

"Heh. Then I'll be there," he tells Eli, and walks away from his quarters.

As Eli shuts his door, Matthew decides this would be a great game to play with his son. Then, looking at his "self", he decides it would be a perfect game. When he reaches his own quarters, he neatly tucks his character sheet in a safe place and trots off to find Chloe.


End file.
